When I first started climbing ,I met an older guy ,real solid climber . We got into the conversation of how can I get good and become a good climber .His answear was CLIMB. We wher at a place called stone tower in Lynn Woods ,some round sloping stones some edgy some crimpy ,. He said this was his cheap lunchtime free gym and that traversing around this tower ,keeps him in shape and target all areas of his climbing .FOOT WORK largely aswell as grip on the sloppy stones .The quesstion ,I am presenting is do people argree that alot of traversing helps build strenth and help better technique ? I very rarely see anyone traversing at the local gym . Just top ropeing and bouldering ,leading the small 40 ft pitch s . so another question ,are gyms for training or have they trully become THE PLACE to CLIMB

When I first started climbing ,I met an older guy ,real solid climber . We got into the conversation of how can I get good and become a good climber .His answear was CLIMB. We wher at a place called stone tower in Lynn Woods ,some round sloping stones some edgy some crimpy ,. He said this was his cheap lunchtime free gym and that traversing around this tower ,keeps him in shape and target all areas of his climbing .FOOT WORK largely aswell as grip on the sloppy stones .The quesstion ,I am presenting is do people argree that alot of traversing helps build strenth and help better technique ? I very rarely see anyone traversing at the local gym . Just top ropeing and bouldering ,leading the small 40 ft pitch s . so another question ,are gyms for training or have they trully become THE PLACE to CLIMB

That guy gave you good advice when he said to climb to get better. To improve as quickly as you can, however, set goals for your climbing for the day. What do you want to accomplish today? Is there a certain project route you've been working that you think you should be able to send today? Is it time for another 4X4 and you think you should be able to bump up the difficulty of one of its problems from your previous? Did you successfully traverse last session for 20 minutes and now you want to try for 25? Thrive for something and it will give you the drive to ultimately do better.

To traverse is good advice if you want to build endurance and improve footwork, but to make it work you need to make sure you're focusing on the right things while you do so. Otherwise, you will simply reinforce bad habits. Focus on placing your hands and feet precisely while keeping your arms as straight as possible, and your body in optimal position relative to the nature and demands of the holds. I assume the surface on which you would climb on this tower is near vertical, so optimal body position means keeping your hips close to the wall, arching your lower back in the process of reaching holds, etc.... It sounds like stone tower may be a very good place to traverse, because apparently you'll be using a lot of open grips. So, he probably gave you good advice if your goal is to build endurance. It won't do much for your strength, unless you're very low in grip strength at this point. If you are, it may help in your grip strength. It will also help with your footwork, as long as you focus on it while you climb. What you focus on will become your habit, so make it a good habit. And make your habit the right combination of things to focus on.

In my opinion, smart climbers that plan to use the gym to improve their climbing over time will have some sort of climbing-specific training program for it. Again, this means the implementation of goals, which is the purpose of a program. The "program" may be as simple as routine things they do to monitor progress and improve at, and the activities utilized should involve the act of climbing. This may seem like something everybody already does, but it's not. Many people just go to the gym and climb to have fun, with no clear-cut goals nor a strict intent to perform better than last time. If you seriously want to improve, adopt the latter. So, yes, for many, the gym is "the place to climb" as opposed to a training tool. If you want to improve, at least make it both.

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